From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Car body vibrations, material choices like wooden roofs, and testing procedures for the Goshawk chassis.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 41\3\ Scan272 | |
| Date | 19th January 1923 | |
| To B.J. from R.{Sir Henry Royce} c. to C.J. LHS.{Lord Herbert Scott} c. to B.Y. Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} c. to E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} RE. PRODUCTION ENGINEERS VISIT TO W.W. ON 16.1.23 Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} B.Y. and EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} were here on a visit on the 16th. to discuss the production situation. EP.{G. Eric Platford - Chief Quality Engineer} first brought up the subject of bodies which I understand is causing considerable trouble between the Works and the Sales Dept. My conclusions are that since you have had bodies of nearly all types which are satisfactory on the Goshawk chassis, you do not blame the chassis until you have tested any body complained of by running it out of gear, with the engine stopped, down a hill, over a bumpy road or sets, to prove whether it is a sonorous booming body that is likely to produce sounds from vibrations set up from any or every cause, it having been proved that some bodies are quite satisfactory in this respect while others cannot be satisfactory even if we have no engine or gears on the car. I have not time to go into the construction of bodies but I do think that wooden roofs should be avoided if possible, as of all the materials that are sonorous, wood seems the most, whereas aluminium, leather, felt, canvas roofs and panels appear to be much less so. As regards vibrations from the frame to the body, whether they come from the engine impulses, gears, or rough roads could we think be lessened by attaching the frame to the body brackets entirely with rubber, both between the contd:- | ||